I am not and never have been wealthy. First came supporting and raising a family.

I started sort-of collecting in 1971. I didn’t collect as a investment. I started off with Canadian 1-cent coins, adding what ever I found in my pocket. Eventually I gradually added other denominations, then paper but nothing over $20 (can’t afford anything bigger), then if IT had some sort of monitory value I added it. I even have (For those that understand) “Winsday” lottery tickets, Canadian tire and tokens. I added foreign. I do have a few Mint sets.

BUT this was off and on not a daily obsession.

I went 10 years without looking at it. So I am sort-of picking it back up. I know that all you on here only collect the special minted coins from polished dies. I just like to see all the years and varieties covered. I sometimes took a little water with dish soap and a toothbrush to clean some of my coins to get dirt and grease off. I do mount each coin in 2x2 coin holders. I took my 1-cent coins and sort-of mounted them in a picture frame and hung it on the wall.

Looking at some of the posts I guess I should pick only one thing and one denomination to collect, so I can collect only the best of the series. I do not know where to draw the line.

Welcome aboard. Unfortunately, the English side of this site doesn't get much action. I wish more people would post. I know some very learned people who browse but it seems folks just don't want to ask questions or appear "newbie".

Bill in Burl wrote:Welcome aboard. Unfortunately, the English side of this site doesn't get much action. I wish more people would post. I know some very learned people who browse but it seems folks just don't want to ask questions or appear "newbie".

No, I think that the Brit-speak folks are more the "real" collectors. It's just that there are many more Canadian Coin sites than this C&C one. This started, I think, as just a French site and then started the English side quite some time later. The pricing and Ebay sections on this site are great reference materials to use in conjunction with other guides.

It's certainly why I love these forums though Bill.... I mean you can start up a bit of a dialoge and in a short period of time you figure out you're talking to one of the most educated individuals on a particular subject!!!

Terry: glad you're back collecting... the great thing about this hobby is that there's so many ways to go with it... denominations, grades, metals, countries.... simply put you're bound only by your imagination with this hobby.

When I started to come back into this hobby I liked collecting it all... then I talked with a guru of 50 cent coins and was fascinated by that so much I was just compelled to dig deeper on that rabbit hole.... I also then got a bit of exposure to pre-confederation maritime coinage and I love it!!

Best advice I can say is as you're going back into this... just have a real good look around... don't be shy... ask tonnes of questions and you'll get so much more out of it!

I never thought that I was investing to cash in later to make money. I have just collected every thing I could lay my hands on. I hope people do not get too upset if I babel on about the money hobby, from my point of view (just a little off centre)

Hi TerryStick to those pennies--there are a lot of them and there are many surprises. It sure is one of the most inexpensive ways of collecting . If not not mistaken, recently a dealer in Hamilton went through his hoard of old pennies and came across a rare and exciting one worth quite few bucks.Got a few myself--just need the time to go through them.

Have gone through most now at least have sorted them by year. No looking at them with microscope.

I live in a small village and found out that during the beginning of the school year the grade one do a field trip to every business in town, I was at our little bank branch, and have offered to make up a penny in a 2x2 for each child for the year they were born to be given to them as their souvenir of their visit to the bank.

When I am not doing yard work or house repairs I am still sorting through coins and making a catalog of all them. I give each coin a serial number and record them in a excel spread sheet. I want to record all my coins. I then hope to maybe sell off all the multiples, before I start to add much to the collection.

If you have a chance, you should try to visit the CNS Coin Show in Calgary on Sept 23 & 24. We hold it at the Clarion Hotel on 16th Ave NE between Barlow and Deerfoot Trail. It is the old Crossroads hotel if you knew it.

You are only about 1 1/4 hours away from Calgary. In fact I flew over your village last weekend when we has some air search and rescue exercises out of Vulcan.

If you can't make it to Calgary, we also have the Medicine Hat Coin Show on Sept 30, although the Hat is a little further for your to drive.